The Importance of Understanding the Distinction Between Manas and Mind Consciousness in the Age of Dharma Decline

People nowadays do not cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), and cannot cultivate it well; they only play with words, read a couple of books, and once their mind consciousness has gained some intellectual understanding, they believe they have awakened—even though this does not even count as an intellectual awakening—and then claim to have realized enlightenment. Therefore, it is necessary to help sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age understand the difference between the manas and the mind consciousness, so that everyone knows what constitutes an intellectual awakening and what constitutes realization, thereby preventing sentient beings from committing the grave false speech of claiming realization they do not have.

The chaos of the Dharma-ending age is very severe; sentient beings are deeply attached to emotional bonds, often saying with their mouths "rely on the Dharma, not on the person," while in reality doing the opposite. If sentient beings could all cultivate in accordance with reason and the Dharma, truly relying on the Dharma and not on the person, shouting slogans a little less and doing actual deeds a little more, striving to do things thoroughly, and truly relying on what the Buddha taught, then the Buddha would feel somewhat at ease. Not going against the Buddha and practicing in accordance with His teachings is tantamount to repaying the Buddha's kindness.

Subdue emotional attachments a little, and you will see the truth of reality a little more clearly. Take the Path as your priority, not emotional attachment. Emotional attachment cannot save anyone; each person bears their own karma, and no one can substitute for another. If your mind can be broader and your energy more abundant, then take Buddhism as your priority and the birth and death of sentient beings as your priority. Moreover, first you must understand the Buddha's kindness and find ways to repay it; do not speak or act in ways that make the Buddha sad and sorrowful. Know that the tathāgatagarbha stores karmic seeds moment after moment; in every instant of our speaking and acting, of our bodily, verbal, and mental actions, there is the tathāgatagarbha supervising and recording. Therefore we must hold the tathāgatagarbha in awe and revere cause and effect—not merely shouting it aloud with our mouths while acting otherwise in reality.